A Haunted Trail In Quaker Hill

For the past three years, Robert Rossi and his friend Joe Harcut have been terrifying children in Quaker Hill—and the kids just can't get enough of it. 

For Halloween, Rossi and Harcut, aided by a growing group of volunteers, put together a Haunted Trail and each year, as they add more animated monsters to their creepy collection, it gets bigger and scarier.

An old house that used to be on Rossi's property on Vauxhall Street Extension served as the initial inspiration. The two thought it would be the perfect location for a haunted house. Now the old house has been torn down but the tradition continues at Harcut's property. 

This year features a haunted graveyard and a corn field inspired by Children of the Corn. Harcut draws a lot of his inspiration from horror films, said Rossi, so you can expect to see at least one chainsaw wielding mass murderer. As always, though, it's the unexpected things that go bump in the night that make the experience truly frightening and fun. 

"It’s a good time. We enjoy it," said Rossi. "We had about 500 people last year, and did a collection for food for the food bank which we dropped off at Waterford Town Hall. We also donated about $500 to $600 to Waterford Animal Shelter, so we figure we want to go bigger this year." 

This year's Trail of Horror will be held October 25 and 26 at 2 Old Barry Road in Quaker Hill. The official start time is 6 p.m., but if you've got little kids, bring them between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. After 6 p.m. it's too scary for young children, Rossi said. 

Admission is free but it's also intended as a fundraiser for the local food bank and for the animal shelter, so all donations are gratefully accepted.